don't forget to eat (and knit)

The work of magazine making and blog writing that I do fits into all sorts of puzzle-like configurations in our days. I love that about it - it is the very thing that makes it possible. Sitting outside ballet class? Edit some pages! Kids are sleeping in? Write a blog post! But there are also regular long stretches of time in my studio where I can fully concentrate on what needs to be done. My efficiency goes off the charts on days like that, and for a long time, I found myself nose to the grindstone, hardly looking up, and certainly not breathing very well. I'd get a lot done, but perhaps not my best work, low blood sugar, hunched shoulders and all. And by the time my time was up, or the kids arrived home, I was a fragile flower, as we say around here. In no shape to open arms to kids or the husband who had just soloed for the day.

It only took me a few years (only! ha!) to change those patterns. To take a moment or two for myself on those days. To breathe deeply and walk frequently and goodness - feed myself! And not just tea and chocolate and whatever else could be grabbed on the run. But a real lunch for one. And when that is through? To knit just a row. Or read a page.

Of course, the results of such things are entirely obvious, are they not? So maybe one less thing will get crossed off my to do list. But I will feel better, and be so much better able to care for my family. And the work I do? It will be more thoughtful. We all know this to be true. And yet - when a Mama finds herself alone for a moment or two, with so much always to be done, it is hard to remember these things sometimes, is it not? So let me gently remind you today, if I may be so bold, to feed yourself. (Feed yourself, I dare say, as well as you would feed the precious loves of your life.) Slowly, thoughtfully, and well. And then maybe knit a row or two.

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don't forget to eat (and knit)

The work of magazine making and blog writing that I do fits into all sorts of puzzle-like configurations in our days. I love that about it - it is the very thing that makes it possible. Sitting outside ballet class? Edit some pages! Kids are sleeping in? Write a blog post! But there are also regular long stretches of time in my studio where I can fully concentrate on what needs to be done. My efficiency goes off the charts on days like that, and for a long time, I found myself nose to the grindstone, hardly looking up, and certainly not breathing very well. I'd get a lot done, but perhaps not my best work, low blood sugar, hunched shoulders and all. And by the time my time was up, or the kids arrived home, I was a fragile flower, as we say around here. In no shape to open arms to kids or the husband who had just soloed for the day.

It only took me a few years (only! ha!) to change those patterns. To take a moment or two for myself on those days. To breathe deeply and walk frequently and goodness - feed myself! And not just tea and chocolate and whatever else could be grabbed on the run. But a real lunch for one. And when that is through? To knit just a row. Or read a page.

Of course, the results of such things are entirely obvious, are they not? So maybe one less thing will get crossed off my to do list. But I will feel better, and be so much better able to care for my family. And the work I do? It will be more thoughtful. We all know this to be true. And yet - when a Mama finds herself alone for a moment or two, with so much always to be done, it is hard to remember these things sometimes, is it not? So let me gently remind you today, if I may be so bold, to feed yourself. (Feed yourself, I dare say, as well as you would feed the precious loves of your life.) Slowly, thoughtfully, and well. And then maybe knit a row or two.

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Greetings! I'm Amanda Blake Soule - mother of five, author of three books on family creativity, and editor-in-chief of Taproot Magazine. I live with my family in an old farmhouse in Western Maine where we raise animals, grow vegetables and make lots of things. I write about it all here on the blog. Thank you for visiting!